The Girl and the Wild Race
by mepb
Summary: A short story by L.M.M, which i am re-writing. It about a sought-after woman who, fed up with her aunt's nagging, vows to marry the first man who asks her. A great race starts to get to her door.


Disclaimer: None of this belongs to me...not the characters, not the plot, and a few of the sentences belong to her too. I'm just re-writing this thing.  
  
-The Girl and the Wild Race:  
  
-Chapter One:  
  
Judith Whitney sat with her Aunt, Mrs. Theodora, in one of the back- row pews in the Ramble Valley church. Judith was just tall enough to be able to see the bride and groom over the heads of the people sitting in front of her. The wedding couple made a pretty picture, saying their vows with the great stain-glass-window of the crucifixion behind them; and for a moment she felt discontented with her life.  
  
"I'm sure Ellie just sent us that wedding invitation out of spite," Mrs. Theodora was saying bitterly.  
  
"Stop being so pessimistic," Judith told her aunt good-naturedly. "It was very nice of Ellie to invite us to her wedding. Me and her were always good friends."  
  
"Yes. But she was always jealous of you. You always had more beaus than her and I could see it in her eyes. I'm sure she only invited you here to gloat."  
  
"That doesn't mean anything. You always expect the worst in people."  
  
"But now she has a husband and you still don't even though she's not half-as good-looking as you..."  
  
"Ellie's a very nice person," Judith interrupted.  
  
"But it's as I always told your mom...Nine times out a time a beauty doesn't marry as well as an ordinary girl. Your mom was awful proud of your good looks when you were a baby."  
  
Judith didn't answer as she watched Ian McGregor slip the ring on Ellie's finger.  
  
"And now look...Ellie has a husband before you! I noticed she didn't ask you to be a bridesmaid even though you tell me you two were such good friends. Probably didn't want you to outshine her. It's no good having a prettier bridesmaid than bride..."  
  
"Hmmm," Judith said absently.  
  
"And I remember when Ian used to come over every night to see you."  
  
"Yes...and there was never anything between us. I told him right off that I wasn't interested in him. And Ellie's a better wife for him...Ian needs a sweet girl who'll enjoy listening to his sea stories."  
  
"But I do remember the days when Ian would swear he could never love another besides you."  
  
"Are you done yet?" Judith asked a little irritably. Mrs. Theodora's whispers were beginning to draw attention.  
  
Aunt Theodora sniffed.  
  
"Are you so eager to get rid of me Aunt Theo? I'm sure we get along comfortably together...and wouldn't you miss me if I married and move far away?"  
  
"If you married the right man you wouldn't have to move far away," Aunt Theodora replied significantly.  
  
Judith sighed. She and her aunt had different opinions of the 'right one'.  
  
Aunt Theo's 'right one' was sitting on the left side of the church. His name was Eben King and was the sole suitor that found favor in Mrs. Theodora's eyes. That was mostly because his house was only a short walk from the Whitney farm...which meant Aunt Theo could visit her favorite niece anytime she wanted.  
  
But Eben was so homely that Judith claimed the sight of him made her eyes ache. And there he was, sitting –as ugly as ever- in a few pews to the left of them where she could even from this distance see a tiny bald spot in the middle of his thinning gray hair.  
  
Judith's 'right one' was sitting to their right. His name was Bruce Marshall and was handsome man. He had been courting Judith for a long while now despite Aunt Theo's nagging.  
  
But Aunt Theo disliked him as a suitor because of his stony rugged farm, and for the fact that he enjoyed plenty of other things than work. Mrs. Theodora despised lazy men.  
  
"Their coming down now, Aunt Theo!" Judith exclaimed as the happy newly wedded couple walked down the aisle together. "Let's go congratulate them!"  
  
"I have half a mind to remind Ian of that ten-dollar ring he gave you," Mrs. Theodora grumbled as they got out of the pew. 


End file.
